The Rapture Chronicles: The Orphans
by Boyfromvalley
Summary: A gang of Orphans who struggle to survive Raptures fall are joined by a Reject Little Sister and the only surviving Little Brother. RATED M for violence and strong language. I do not own Bioshock, it is the property of its respected software company and this work is mearely fandom with no intent to profit from.
1. The Reject

**Okay, I know I said I would only focus on finishing 'Tartarus' but this is an idea I've had brewing in my head for some time and I just wanted to get this first chapter written before I write the next one for Tartarus. I'll be honest I haven't quite figured what I want to do with this story and its charaters but please read and please comment **

The Reject

Short black greasy hair, large round spectacles that rested on her pale cheek bones while brown eyes that had something of a dead glare stared through the lenses. Her small mouth hung open as she breathed in and out through it, closing for just a mere second to dampen her lips. All this added to a rather bland and somewhat stupid expression on her face that would lead one to think that the girl was just retarded, but the truth was far more tragic for the eight year old girl who sat silent on a small four legged wooden stool.

Staring blankly at the wall she sat before, she raised her right hand to it and drew upon the pale blue wall paper the same thing she had drawn over and over. All over the confined walls of her room she had scribbled in crayon colourful illustrations of two people walking hand in hand down stone pavements and sitting at home enjoying tea parties.

Hardly works of art though considering her young age, but also nothing that even the most sceptical person would dismiss as a mere mess of wax scribbles and blotches. Clearly she knew how to draw a table, a kettle and cup, herself, and most importantly to her; her mother.

None of these though were of the two walking in the park or having picnics on the grass. Probably because she had never visited one or even knew what grass was. Nothing in Rapture was free, not even a walk in the park, and nothing was cheap enough for them either.

Her latest one meanwhile she drew and coloured in red; and only in red. There was no blue, no green, yellow, not even black to draw the outlines of her and her mother. She had no other colour to work with which was evident as no other lay in her small open crayon box. So she made the most of what she had, even if it was worn down to a nub that she smeared against the wall with her thumb.

Absent though from all her work was her father whom she had never known just as he never wanted to know her. She knew nothing of him, who he was, what he did, or if he was even alive still. Only that he had no interest in her and her mother. They received no alimony or child support from him; as Ryan's philosophy and beliefs that such things were tools of the parasite whoever they may be exonerated him of these responsibilities to them.

With no benefits and welfare aid allowed in Rapture as well; courtesy of more of Ryan's beliefs that these again were a means to bleed dry what the working man earned by the parasites. Life for a single mother trying to raise and support her own child was an uphill struggle. It only got worse when they were evicted from their small squalid apartment and were left with only two options; Fontaine's overcrowded homes for the poor, or moving in with her fat slob of an uncle's own squalid hole.

He of course would demand lodge for their stay, almost all her minimum wage. But then what choice did they have. The selfish greedy bastard barely left enough for the two to feed and clothe themselves, forcing her mother to work double shifts. This left her though with little or no time to spend with her daughter and the stress of over working took its toll on her. Soon her mother left her and this world, and her uncle went and left her in a Little Sisters Orphanage.

There her life changed for the worse; and a hell of a lot worse for her. There she was put through the same procedure as all the girls were; there she was made in to a Little Sister. Normally now she'd be roaming the street with a Big Daddy for company; probably the only father figure she'd ever have had in her life. But not her, she got to be locked away and forgotten, she was different from all the others because she was a…

"Hey looked down there, there's one of them," said an over anxious male voice.

She looked up to where the voice came from, her room or cell as it was clearly intended to confine her against her will had no ceiling. Instead the upper floor allowed members of the science staff to look down and observe her and many others imprisoned from a balcony. And there at this moment two Splicers hassled her from above.

The second one who had just appeared stared at her and then glared at his friend "You dull twat, don't you know? That's the reject, you know the one they couldn't make work. She ain't got any," he then walked away with the other schmuck following "Let's just keep looking for that little freak you let loose."

…A reject, there couldn't be a better word for her. Unlike all the others who were bonded to the slugs without fail, her body for some reason rejected all attempts to do so. Tests were performed and examinations carried out to determine why this was and how it could be overcome. But all effort to answer this enigma of science amounted to nothing, and at worst repeated attempts to implant the slug resulted in irreversible harm and damage being inflicted upon the poor girl.

To begin with the effects on her vocal chords did not alter her voice but instead strained them in a way that rendered her a mute; she had lost the ability to speak and could only mutter in mere grunts and whines. She lacked the means to express any emotion through her lips as her facial nerves were all but dead. She could still open and close her mouth but would forever frown no matter how happy she'd be, and long-time that had been.

Her eyes did not glow like all the rest, but never did they work as well as they had before, hence why she wore glasses provided for her poor vision before they had all but forgotten her. They seemed empty as little by little the life in them faded away each day as did her health.

It would probably come as some relief to say that the harm ended there, but it didn't. In their strive to convert the girl in to a Little Sister, the scientists frustration grew with every failure at this stubborn defiance to their vain egotistical intelligence. And one who was cold and immoral vented his rage upon the girl with the use of a scalpel.

Visible upon her young face were three thin scalpel inflicted scars; one across her forehead, one across the bridge of her nose and the other across her left cheek. Internally and externally her face had been ruined and disfigured by shear callousness and reckless regard for a young life.

The cruel irony of it all was the regenerative powers provided by the Adam slug would have caused the scars to quickly heal without ever a trace of them. But eventually the scientists deemed her a lost cause and put her away till they could decide on what to do with her, there in her room she spent her days just wasting away. Her only visitor the intern sent to change her bed sheets and empty out the bucket she used to relieve herself, while her food was slid through a hatch at the bottom of the steel cell door.

But in the last few days it had all stopped, nobody came to feed her and nobody came to clean out her room. Already the bucket she used was stacked full of her own stool and urine, it reeked so foul that the whole room stunk as though something had died in it, and it was one of the few reasons why anybody who walked by stayed clear. Her bed sheets had been torn and used as substitute toilet paper to wipe her ass, there was a small sink basin with the water still running but no soap. Strange though that they would put that in but not an adequate toilet, at least she wouldn't die of dehydration.

As she put the finishing touches to her artwork she suddenly realised she was rubbing the palm of her thumb against the wall. The nub she used had finally worn away and she had no other crayon to finish her work with. Smearing then the thin layer of wax that had built up on to her thumb, she stained her dress already covered in multi coloured wax stains, giving the lavender faded fabric some new life of colour.

While she sat pondering on what to do, a rumbling in her stomach suggested she occupy herself with food. Nearby on the floor of her room was an open and empty bag of potato chips, she reached inside hoping to find a few crumbs. But alas what she found was no bigger than grains of salt.

Throwing the empty bag aside she reached next to her only bottle of cola, that had in it no more than two drops. Still she had plenty of tap water to drink. But she had one last thing of nourishment that would keep her going just a little longer. Reaching under her small bed she pulled out her last bit of food she had been saving; one full candy bar still sealed in its wrapping.

Hardly edible and enough to fill her stomach, but regardless of her age she'd learnt from her life of poverty how to make things last. Yet her appetite vanished as the stench of her own piss and shit piled in one corner of her room turned her grumbling stomach, and she decided that only when she was 'really' hungry would she eat while inhaling human excrement.

While still sitting on her stool holding it she heard further commotion coming from the floor above. She looked up at the balcony expecting the two men from earlier to appear, and then to her surprise someone completely different performed a backflip on to the balcony railings and then a further one down in to her room, landing perfectly on their feet without even tumbling or breaking a bone.

Her strange visitor frantically looked around and upon spotting the girl motioned with his finger to his lip "Don't rat me out okay," and then dived under her bed while groaning at the smell he had then realised while the girl the had just stared blankly without ever a reaction.

Further noise came from above as the two men appeared again, no doubt looking for the girl's agile guest. The one who was ignorant of what she was earlier shouted down "Hey brat you see anyone come by here?" She only stared back with her emotionless dull expression that infuriated the man "Hey are you stupid or what, did you see someone come by here?"

His colleague who came up beside him smacked the palm of his hand against his shoulder "You dull fuck of course she is, remember she's the reject. Come on I think he went this way," while the second man led the way, the first however grabbed a microscope from a nearby desk and callously threw it down at the girl, just narrowly missing her. She neither flinched nor screamed, only looked at where it fell and then back at the two who had turned away.

As they disappeared again her mysterious visitor popped out from under her bed and gave her the A Okay hand sign while adding too it "Nice one kid, didn't hit you did he?" The girl just shook her head, no expression still.

This person meanwhile pulled themselves out and stood up before the girl. It was a young boy; ages ten to eleven who had spikey unmanageable blond hair. He whore nothing other than a pair of baggy brown shorts and walked bare foot. Rather than scrawny he was in good shape for his age, and judging by the gymnastics he had demonstrated was clearly very athletic.

On his right arm he wore a tight leathery glove that nearly reached elbow; the girl noticed slits in it that covered the palm of his fingers. As well as the glove he also had a strange eye patch that covered both his left eye and left eye socket, it wasn't made of leather but of a plastic material that l glistened like a glass lens from a pair of sunglasses, but much darker as the girl could not see through it.

He then spoke to her again "Thanks for not squealing on me, those two boobs have been giving me the run around since they let me out of my room," looking around again he noticed her drawings and smirked lightly "Huh, heck of a way to keep yourself busy when stuck in these things."

The girl again just stared blankly at him while he then noticed the candy bar she still held "Oh sweet can I have that?" rather than object she offered it to the boy who hastily took it from her and without offering her a piece ravenously devoured it without even being deterred by the stench. He happily sighed at having his gut satisfied with a tasty treat, even if it wasn't his.

As he rubbed his stomach he took in to thought to thank the girl for her charitable offer "Thanks kid, I haven't eaten anything for a while since they went and left me in that room, they do the same to you?" he then asked, the girl only nodded "You been in here for a while haven't you, I can tell by the pile of poo and peepee over in the corner?" again the girl only responded with a simple nod.

"You don't talk much do you?" the boy asked as leaned towards her, the girl then responding by gently shaking her head "You can't can you?" he then realised just as he noticed the scars on her face "They do something to you?" she nodded this time "Yeah, they kind of screwed me over too," he revealed while raising his right gloved hand to his left eye patch.

He backed away from her and raised his arms above his head as he stretched himself "I guess there's no point in asking your name huh?" for a second she was silent and then her eyes suddenly widened with a realisation. She directed his attention to one of her earlier drawings and he noticed that under the two characters of her and her mother she had written probably the only two words she could spell. One being 'Mommy', and the other her own name that the boy read out loud "Chloe… Nice name"

He turned back to her with a smile "Hello Chloe, I'm Peter," showed off next by doing a backward summersault on to her bed and proudly added to his introduction "Raptures one and only Little Brother," he grinned smugly expecting something of an encore. But again with no surprise Chloe gave her expressionless stare that sort of bothered him at her lack of applaud "I know you can't speak but what, you can't smile either?"

Grasping her cheeks with both index fingers she pushed them up to portray a smile before imitating next along with her middle fingers two pairs of scissors that she snipped at the sides of her cheeks to simulate the notion that her facial nerves had all but been severed, to which she then concluded with a simple shake of her head an answer to his question that was simply 'No'. To avoid any further confusion in the future she pointed to both cheeks and her throat which they had established weren't working for her and then her eyes so he was properly aware of what was fully wrong with her.

"Oh… so they made a train wreck out of you too huh, like me and the rest of the freaks here?" he openly blurted out inconsiderably while still rambling "And then just threw you in here, never to be seen or heard of again. Well not me, I'm out and about and I'm gonna bail on this place, and once I hit the streets I'm gonna hit back at some old friends I'm so dying to see again," he clenched his fist as though with those words he had declared some vendetta.

Chloe however had just sat there, listening to the strange ramblings of her odd guest. As his thoughts drifted back to her and the realisation he was being sort-after he decided he had hid long enough and sort to get back to his escape "Well there's me babbling but if you will excuse me I got to get moving," he threw aside the candy wrapper, leapt from the bed on to the floor and then next squatted as though he intended to leap all the way up to the floor above "See ya Chloe," he then bid her farewell "Thanks for the candy,"and then with incredible strength and agility he flew up to the balcony, performed a somersault over the railings and disappeared from her sight.

As she watched him leave she reached up her arm and tried to call out, but could only manage a garbled cry that went unheard by him. And just as he had arrived from out of the blue he was gone, leaving poor Chloe forgotten.

Once again she sat alone in her room, this time without the means to preoccupy herself with drawing and nothing now to satisfy her hunger while still suffocating in her own theses. And it was at this moment that she actually realised just how alone she was and would be from now on. Nobody cared or was even bothered anymore to check in on her, keep her fed and make sure she at least lived in some standard of living conditions. Nobody was gonna come visit her or open the door to let her out and walk free. No, she would just waste away, forgotten and abandoned; an orphan and a reject.

Feeling thirsty she walked towards the small sink basin, turned the tap and placed her mouth next to the flowing water as she quenched her thirst. And then suddenly as she turned the tap off she spun around and saw Peter once more standing in her room looking at her.

Pointing his thumb up at the balcony he then popped a question he should have asked before he first left for her "You wanna bail too?" a simple nod was all it took to let him now she was on board. He approached her, the top of her head measuring up just beneath his neck, put his arms around her and picked her up off her feet "Hold on now."

With another ounce of strength he leapt up to the floor above, but the added weight of Chloe made it not possible for him to clear the railings. He managed to grab on to them with his right hand before plummeting back down while still holding Chloe, his feet which were pressed against the wall did not slide down but somehow stuck to it, just like a Spider Splicer's would. Firmly secure he managed to leap over the railings with Chloe in tow and in doing so finally granted the girl her freedom.

Out of the shit hole and free to walk about she eagerly took in the change of scenery. While one side of the floor had a row of open ceilings with rooms like hers below, the other side however opened up upon the ocean and the city. Chloe then approached the large windows and was enveloped in green bluish light that poured in through the glass while she looked out upon the city with intrigue. She looked back at Peter and mumbled something in gibberish; he didn't know what but had some idea of her excitement of seeing something she didn't have to draw just to gaze upon.

Seemed like fun he thought as he too had been locked up without a window to look out of. But he hadn't forgotten the two who had let him loose and where still looking for him. And unlike Chloe he'd been out long enough to learn they weren't the only failures or mistakes locked up in this place. Nor was this place what Chloe thought it was; Point Prometheus.

He placed his hand on her shoulder "Come on we gotta get going," compliantly she followed as they walked across the floor hoping to find a way leading out.

While she fell behind though her curiosity got the better of her and she approached the railings above one of the rooms. Looking down she could see a bed very much like hers with someone laying on it that neither moved nor breathed

Adjusting her glasses on her face she thought what she was looking at was a young girl who wore a similar but pink dress, as opposed to her faded lavender. Another Little Sister, locked away and forgotten, another reject possibly like her. But as she stared closer at her she realised how unalike they were, a little girl it was but there was something very alarming about her face.

What should have been the youth of a child was old and wrinkled very much like an old hag with a severe hair loss all over the crown of her head. She was clearly deceased lying on her bed and staring up at her with eyes as dead as hers while her bony open jaw exposed all her rotten teeth.

Chloe backed away terrified at the aged ghoul that was once a girl like her. Peter himself meanwhile could not resist staring in to one of the rooms, what he saw was to his surprise another Little Brother who lay huddled in a corner. He laid as still as the withered reject next door but he alarmed Peter as there was something horrifying about his feet that caused him to threat about his right gloved hand.

Seeing Chloe approach he hastily led her away from the room, concerned that what she may see would draw her attention to his own mutilations. They walked further on, passing other rooms that unlike the ones before seemed to have thick glass screen windows that covered the whole open ceiling, or steel thick bars on others. And as they passed one that Peter noticed had had its bars bent apart, strange sounds that emerged from it made them aware that something within it was still alive.

While Chloe stood still with fear Peter with his curiosity dared to approach and stare in to the pit at whatever monstrosity dwelled within it. Peering over the balcony he saw what appeared to be a man wandering aimlessly around. The lighting within it was poor due to most of the bulbs that illuminated the whole room had all blown out.

The man breathed deeply in ways that no human should and sounded bad tempered, his heavy footsteps were as loud as a big daddy as he stomped all around the room. Suddenly he stopped and stepped in to the dim light as he then stared up at Peter with an anger he would express through bloody violence.

His whole physical form was bloated with testosterone and cancer like tumours. His right arm was larger than his left and as for his head it looked as though he was missing both his neck, his nose and both his ears as well as his hair.

Peter though somewhat alarmed at the atrocious looking brute couldn't help but mutter out loud to Chloe "Yikes, Chloe look, its big, its mean, It's one hell of an ugly son of a…!" the brute growled before he could finish and quickly he got the notion to withdraw "Whoops, see ya butt ugly," he ran up to Chloe "Let's get out of her before the walking tumour decides it's too cramped in his room."

Just as they were about to get underway again, footsteps approaching came from round the corner. And from it emerged the two men from earlier, each carrying a led pipe "Look there he is, and he's got that reject with him," yelled one of the men.

"You've given us a lot of trouble boy, and I'm gonna enjoy smashing both your skull and your girlfriend's in!" the second one threatened.

As Chloe backed away terrified, Peter leapt in front of her with his arms drawn "She ain't my girlfriend you prick!" the two men slowly advanced on them while Peter quickly instructed to Chloe "Hide," she ran for cover under a nearby large desk on the floor while Peter raised his right hand "You schmucks don't know who you're dealing with. I'm Raptures Little Brother"

"You'll be dead like the rest of them you freak," the first man remarked as he swung for Peter who leapt clear out of the way, the second also attempted but Peter then leapt to his left while performing next a backward flip as the first tried to sneak in a horizontal swing for his head. In doing so he stumbled forward and left his back exposed which Peter took full advantage of by slamming his feet in to his back knocking him face down in to the floor.

The other came at him from behind but Peter was too quick, where he had stood his attacker ended up striking his friend hard in the back while he was still down. Peter meanwhile performed a few backflips to get some distance from the Splicer before commenting on his treatment of his buddy

"Ouch, sure you didn't break something?"

"I'll break you bloody nose you smart ass little shit," the second man lashed out at Peter who continued to mock him with his light footed acrobatics infuriated him more "Stop jumping about you little shit!"

"Okay," Peter complied as he simply just ducked and sidestep the man's blows. The angrier he got the more frantic he was at swinging the led pipe at Peter, eventually Peter decided not to bother playing it his way and performed a few more backflips that then saw him jumping up on to the railings above the room he a moment ago dared to gaze down at the creature in the pit.

Squatting on the railings with just his feet for grip while he placed his hands around his mouth he further mocked the man by shouting "Missed me, missed me, now you gotta…" suddenly first man who was back on his feet stepped right in front of Peter and already swung for him "Whooh!" was all he had time to yell before narrowly leaping out of harm's way over the man and diving down to the floor behind him.

He landed on his hands and did an upward stand on them, without wasting a second more he again took advantage his opponent's exposer and slammed in to his back the soles of his feet. The man lumbered forward over the railings and fell screaming in to the holding room below. Further screams of terror followed as he then got to be acquainted with the room occupant.

Peter meanwhile leapt back on to his feet and was now staring down the second man who was somewhat shocked at what had just happened to his friend. He felt like taunting him further "You gonna fight or gonne run?" angrily the man again lunged at him. Peter leapt at him and flew through the air while spinning like a cork screw. He shot past without taking a hit he swung his right hand at the guy's neck and landed then landed back on his feet.

"Chloe," he called out to her, she appeared from behind the large desk and ran to him. He grabbed her hand "Let's bail," and ran with her in tow. The man meanwhile did not pursue but instead fell to his knees while clutching his throat. He gurgled straining to breathe while blood spluttered out through his neck that had been slashed somehow. While kneeling before the balcony he grabbed the railing to keep him from falling in and saw something looking up at him that was both big and held his late buddy in two pieces.

…

In a large hallway a massive gap split the floor in to two parallel balconies allowing those to look down to the floor below. Two walkways that connected them lay destroyed or cluttered with junk that made crossing to the other side impossible. The only other way was to take the stairs down to the floor below and come up through the ones on the opposite side.

On one of the balconies was a large door that had the words 'Live Specimen Holding Pen' written above it. And through these doors emerged both Peter and Chloe, cautiously they ventured further out along the floor, Peter ever alert while Chloe nervously keeping close to him. Quietly they crept up to the railings as Peter then peaked over at something on the other side that caught his attention, he then directed Chloe's to what was a Little Sister's Vent.

"See that?" he whispered "That's our way out; if we can get to it we're home free," he looked around and saw both walkways out of commission. He considered crossing the floor below but that option was all but sunk at the sudden appearance of four men armed with Tommy Guns; they stood bickering below unaware of Peter and Chloe.

Peter however scratched his head pondering on how to get across without being noticed. It be a cinch for him alone but with Chloe, a little risky, but he couldn't just cut and run on her. Then he looked up at the ceiling, looked at how scrawny she was and had a crazy idea.

He put his hands on her shoulders "Okay here's the plan, we're gonna scroll across the ceiling to vent. All you got to do is hold tight, okay?" as soon as she nodded he picked her up and approached a nearby stack of crates he planned to use as a launch point to reach the ceiling. Although he could do it without, Chloe despite her skinny would probably weigh him down as she had earlier.

The crates meanwhile were larger than any of the two adolescent escapees and had been stacked in a pile of three. Peter leapt to the one on top one and readied to jump to the ceiling, he whispered first though "Hey, trust me. We're getting out," suddenly there came a muffled sound from the very doors they had stepped through. The men below didn't hear it but Peter had cause for concern "Oh I hope that ain't what I think it is," without wasting anymore time he leapt to the ceiling and remarkably stuck to it by means of mere touch of his hands and feet.

While he hung there Chloe who rested on his chest wrapped her arms and legs around his back while squeezing her eyes tight; clearly she had no love for heights. Sure enough Peter had guessed right about her scrawny little body as it allowed him to carry her this way across the room. Having her almost filling the gap between him and the ceiling did however prevent him from bending his knees and elbows and so he had to go at a slow and steady pace.

He was halfway across the room when he noticed her glasses slipping off her face due to sweating with panic "Psst, Chloe. Your glasses are slipping. Do something before the hit the floor," Chloe opened her eyes but was too nervous to loosen one of her arms "Chloe…" summing up what little strength she had she quickly pushed them back before the slid right of her small nose. Peter then continued on.

Just as he made it across to the other side and was about to drop down, further noise echoing from the doors to the Live Specimen Holding Pen, one that all four men below heard this time. To Peter it sounded as though something within the building block he and Chloe had been held had broken loose and any minute would be coming through those doors.

The whole commotion however had not only drawn the armed men's attention to the floor above but had also caused one for some reason to look up at the ceiling and catch a glimpse of something dropping down to the other overhead floor. It was enough for him to rally the others and lead them to the staircase.

Up above Peter wasted no time helping Chloe in to the vent as he heard the men approaching "Hurry up Chloe!" he shouted to her.

The men he heard were getting closer "It came from around here!" as soon as Chloe was in the vent Peter jumped and climbed in after her just as the man leading the group ran out on to the balcony floor and caught sight of his foot disappearing in to the vent . Quickly he ran up to it and reached in after Peter, grabbing his ankle and pulling him back out

Peter tried desperately to pull himself free of the man's grip but as strong as he was he couldn't break free "Come out of there you little shit!" finally Peter had had enough and he swung his right hand at the man's arm. He let go of Peter and screamed in pain as his whole arm bled from what appeared to be five razor sharp slash marks.

As he continued to wail one of the other men aimed the barrel of his Tommy gun inside the vent, but before he could fire the doors from where the sounds had emerged burst open. Inside the vent Peter who followed Chloe stopped at the sounds of shouting, gun fire, and blood curdling screaming. Eye wide open he continued on after her, getting as far away just as everything went silent and the face of the creature from the pit glared in to the vent.

**Okay, few things I want to say about the characters, Chloe as some of you have noticed is another typical spectacle wearing character I've created. But like the others who wear glasses she's either based on a character from fiction or somebody I actually know or knew. **

**In Chloe's case she is based on a high school student in a Manga/Anime series. There is a flash back scene in both the Anime and Manga where we see a kinder garden version of the character wearing an incomplete dress and is frowning at being bullied by some classmates. I took the design of that character in that scene and made it in to Chloe; excluding though all their character traits. **

**As for her scars and the part about her face being partially disabled, that idea sprang from on earlier artwork of a Little Sister from a Bioshock Art Deco book; the same one where I got the idea for the Big Daddies of Tartarus.I should also mention that Chloe was originally created to appear in Big Brothers Promise, but like Tartarus I went with this.**

**As for Peter, I've always had this idea of a character with a deformed right hand and left eye that they would have to cover up with a glove and eye patch. The character in my head was created long before the first Bioshock came out and so the was meant for fandom of other shows and such. **


	2. The Yard

**The Yard**

A railway yard was quite an unusual thing to see indoors, but then again in Rapture everything needed to be indoors. Five railway tracks ran parallel along one another with each joining a turn table that had only one single track leading out of the yard. There were various cranes, Porto cabins of all sorts and even a signal box looking over the whole yard.

Yet this yard was silent and disused with not a single soul whether it was human, feline or rodent skulking about. Throughout Rapture a series of indoor railway lines ran throughout the city, which was ironic as the intended Atlantic Express line had long been discontinued. But still a means for cargo transport was required for the distributions of goods and supplies to their assigned districts. And the answer came in the development of a new indoor electrostatic powered locomotive that was small yet powerful enough to haul long lines of railway carts to their destinations.

But now these indoor locomotives whose power was supplied through the railway lines stood still and inactive upon the tracks. They themselves were dead as the power than ran through them had long ceased. But the whole yard was illuminated in an orange glow from the ceiling lights that still functioned, giving a type of evening theme you'd see when the sky at night glowed from the density of the street lamps.

Suddenly the still silence was broken by a sound that would excite any Splicer on the prowl. From a Little Sisters vent someone was stirring and drawing near the vent hole, from it a young boy with a black eye patch poked his head out and cautiously looked around for anyone about.

Peter the Little Brother then dropped out and landed on his feet before crouching as though he was on alert very much like a character in a spy movie of sort. He snuck up to the edge of the stone pavement that ran parallel to the railway track and looked in all directions of the yard. While he did, Chloe who was with him since their breakout struggled to climb out of the vent but instead fell clumsily as she lacked the unusual strength and athleticism of Peter and landed on hard her rear that nearly had her in tears.

Peter not being entirely absorbed in his theatrics had the courtesy to help her up as he then motioned for her to follow him. Exactly as a child playing games he crept along the pavement leading further in to the yard while Chloe just straddled behind. Not wearing anything on her feet made walking on the cold stone pavement with bits of broken concrete, discarded bolts and screws painful and unbearable as her feet were getting bruised and sore.

Peter meanwhile who also walked bare foot did so with no sign of discomfort, he continued with theatrics; ducking and leaping at various places for cover while also performing back flips. He then walked up to one of the inactive indoor locomotives and jumped aboard in its control compartment, where he then proceeded to fiddle with the controls in an attempt to start it up. He knew however it was never going to but it didn't deter him from having fun.

Grabbing an Engineer's abandoned cap lying on the floor he then put it on and shouted out "All aboard," and fiddled still as he imagined the train was in motion with him at the controls. Chloe who stood right outside watched him, unable to fathom his interests and motives in why he would find joy playing with the thing.

Peter who noticed her asked "You ever ridden on one of these things before?" she slowly shook her head while staring at him with the blank expression on her face "I did a few times, but only when hiding in one of the carts it towed. We either use to nick things off them; me and my gang. Or we just did it to travel to a new district for free; we'd be in for it if caught."

After a few seconds he ceased playing and jumped out beside her "Come on lets go find some grub."

In the yard was a cantina cabin that the two explored hoping to find food, but the kitchen they searched showed signs that it had already been raided and all that remained was rotted meat and veg. Peter even held with the tips of both his thumb and index finger a green mouldy rasher of bacon "Eww," he grumbled in a sarcastic tone "And it's green too, like boogers and sprouts," tossing it over his shoulder he walked up beside Chloe who searched the cupboards for anything to silence the grumbling in her stomach.

She was absolutely famished having not eaten anything in a while since Peter had consumed her last bit of food back in her room. Suddenly she found a half-eaten mouldy donut and driven by hunger opened her mouth, only for it to be snatched away by Peter and tossed aside "Gross kid, it will make you sick. Take it from someone who's had to eat out of the garbage once in a while," he then headed for the door, not paying much heed to the still grumbling in her gut "Come on Chloe, let's look elsewhere."

Looking disappointed and sad at the donut lying on the floor, Chloe could only follow him without ever voicing her objection or her annoyance with him. Back outside in the yard Peter looked in all directions for anywhere else to search, and then at the other end of the yard he spotted a signal man's box.

"Let's check there," he made his way across the yard, dropping down from the pavement to the tracks and crossed to the other side. He had only gone one third of the way when he looked back and saw that Chloe was still on the pavement. She stood there, kneeling for a second to climb down herself but then stand back up as she was hesitant to drop down and land on her already sore feet.

Slightly irritated he headed back to her and then quickly jogged again to the other side with Chloe on his back. After leaping up on to the pavement he walked towards the staircase leading up to the observation floor of the signal box "Chloe wait her," she climbed off his back and he leapt up in to the air, stuck to the outside of the signal box's wall and peaked in through the windows. Assured no one was inside he then crawled towards the door at the top of the stairway and motioned for Chloe to come up while he picked the door lock.

Chloe didn't see what he used but noticed his right index finger was pointed at the key hole and somehow he opened it. The door creaked open and both stepped in, there was no light, just what seeped in from outside and a battery powered lamp that stood on a table at the back end. On the floor was a makeshift bed; clear signs that somebody lived here. But whether they were dead or just out for the moment didn't concern the two juvenile home invaders.

Looking for food Peter approached some cabinets and rustling through one found a stash of candy bars; one of which he threw to Chloe who sat upon a chair to nurse her sore feet. Searching further through the rest of the draws he found a few soda bottles, a packet of cigarettes, and a bottle of wine and jin. Grabbing a nearby sack Peter began to fill it with all he could find; including a few bags of potato chips and even tinned cans of food.

Out of this stash he picked two soda bottles, two bags of chips, and a tin of chicken soup before sealing the sack up and putting it to one side. While the food would sustain them for a few days, the tobacco and booze could probably serve as something to barter with out on the streets for further supplies; a little rule he had learnt on the streets before he had been snatched off them.

Going through another draw he then pulled out two bowls with a spoon each, a small cooking pot from another, and a portable camping stove "Hope you like soup Chloe."

The soup simmered in the pot while it lay on top of the lit camper stove and filled the air with an appetising warm aroma, Peter despite his age seemed to know what he was doing as he stirred it. Chloe meanwhile feeling a chill approached the stove to warm herself from the warmth of the stove flame.

Peter though cautioned her "Hey, hey, don't get too close or you'll burn yourself alright, it's almost done anyway," he leaned closer and sniffed the steam flowing from it "Oh this is gonna be good."

In just a short while he served for himself and Chloe a bowl each of the first warm and appetising bit of food any of them had had in quite a while; a far cry from the slop they were served during their incarceration. Usually a slice of bread or croutons made soup more enjoyable, but the absence of such forced Peter to improvise with the potato chips he had found. Each while using a spoon would take one chip from the bag they had each and dunk it in to their bowl.

"Heh, beats how I used to eat these," he said to Chloe who listened "A couple of times all I had was a bag of chips and a mug of milk, so I'd crush the chips up, pour them all in to the mug and just eat them all out with a spoon. Sounds weird but wasn't as bad as you would think. Course then I learnt to cook while on the street."

He paused for a moment after sampling a spoonful of the bowls contents and judged his own cooking "Needs some salt, couldn't find any in the draws," he noted to himself before looking at Chloe who had removed her glasses as the steam was causing a build-up of condensation on the lenses. She looked at him, her vision all blurry without them due to the damage to her eyes.

Peter who looked back stared at her face and started to think how much it reminded him of one of those hand crafted dolls he'd seen on a toy shop window. Like them her face seemed frozen and just incapable of making any emotion other than a frown which was all she could manage. Her pale complexion seemed to match the same ill white colour of all dolls, and her eyes; they just stared with that creepy dead glare they all had. However in her case her scars ranked her as one that had been discarded and left on a trash heap because of how the simplest of scratches to the face deemed it all but damaged and ruined.

She then made a muffled sound as though to ask why he had stopped and so he continued.

"Didn't use to live on the streets before, had some folks I did I use to live with in some rundown apartment owned by a guy name Sinclair. But then one day I woke up and found that they were gone, just packed up and left me alone. Don't know why though, but after that I couldn't stay where I was, landlord went and kicked me out on to the streets," Peter paused for a moment to take a swig from his soda bottle "It was rough at first but then I joined a street gang who lived on the streets, The Rapture Sharks we called ourselves.

We did all kinds of things to survive; we'd steal, pick a few pockets and sell what we lifted from the shop shelves," he again paused and looked at the sack he had filled, remembering the alcohol and cigarettes he had stashed.

"We'd rumble with other gangs, have fun on the street. The older boys would sometimes hoard some of the grown-up stuff like booze and tobacco we'd swiped for later trade for themselves. They thought it made them look big and slick; it made half of them spew all over the pavements.

Mind you when it came to rank I was at the bottom of the ladder because I was the youngest and therefore the runt of the pack. I was kind of cocky though and gave a bit of attitude to the bigger boys. And they just reminded me that they were big; bigger than me.

But I made some pals who looked out for me and taught me the rules of the street and how to survive, and how to cook," Peter noted with sarcasm on that last part "Yeah it weren't all too bad. Then one day, Pike our leader told me to join him and a few of the guys for a job he had planned. I don't know what happened, one minute I'm on watch and next thing the Fuzz nabs me, and I end up at that place we met."

The mere mention of the facility where they had both been held stirred up some unsettling thoughts in Chloe, but she paid attention still, curious to know of Peter's own experience and the harm befallen upon him in that dreadful place.

"I wasn't the only boy they snatched; there were a few of us they had rounded up and had on the operating table. Said they were going to make us in to Little Brothers; whatever the hell they were. But whatever they intended it didn't go as planned," Peter commented with a grudge as he twiddled the fingers of his right gloved hand in front of the patch that covered his left eye "All us boys had something show that had gone wrong. Eyes, hands, ears, mouths, even feet," he remembered the Little Brother he saw with the deformed feet during their escape.

Chloe however couldn't imagine what deformities or mutilations lay hidden under those concealments he wore, and as she dunked a potato chip in to her bowl she couldn't help but be envious and wished that she too could hide her own disfigurements.

Peter who then quickly sighed finished up what remained in his bowl and his story "After that they just used us as lab rats and tested all kinds of stuff on us. I don't know what they did to me next, but I could suddenly jump so high I could reach the ceiling, stick to it and even crawl along it. I can also heal fast and am a bit stronger than I was before "He then boasted as he bragged further about his abilities so as to impress Chloe "Those guys in the gang who had a problem with my attitude aren't gonna be knocking me around anymore when I see them again.

"But if that isn't enough I can also do…" he then paused suddenly and looked once more at his right hand he had raised suddenly as though he was about to demonstrate something he suddenly realised could shock and terrify her. For that reason he quickly changed the subject to what happened next "After that they locked me away because I wouldn't stay put in my room since and kept wandering about the place.

I was trapped in there for a while, starving and thinking I was forgotten and never getting out. But then the door opened by those two saps and I just made a break for it with them on my tail," he then placed his empty bowl aside and reached for his soda bottle as he laid back in his seat and stared out on to the yard below "And the rest you know, I just dropped in on you and hid under your bed. Kind of thing a wimp would do, but I just didn't have the fight in me. That was until I ate that candy bar you gave me."

Chloe who brought her spoon to her small open mouth paused and thought "I didn't give you it, you took it."

"So..?" Peter then asked looking back at her "You've heard my story, how about yours?" he was clearly joking though on that last part, he hadn't forgotten what she was now incapable of "Oh right, you can't speak," a bit of an insensitive thing to say but he meant no harm "But hey, I noticed in your room all those drawings you drew were of you and your mother, but not your father. Some of my buddies when they talked about their dads said they either died or just walked out on them; that sort of thing happen to you?"

Chloe merely nodded and raised two fingers to indicate the latter on Peter's assumptions. She never gave much thought to her father; having never known him or knew the sort of man he was as her mother never spoke of him. She then finished her bowl and the last of the potato chips before yawning and rubbing her eyes.

"You tired?" Peter asked, feeling a slight bit of fatigue as he also yawned "I guess we should hit the hay here for a few hours, and then move on," he got off his chair and walked over to the bed that was nothing more than mattress with a blanket and two pillows; one of which he picked up and then walked towards one of the worktops next to the windows.

"You can sleep on the mattress if you like," he offered, not wanting to say that it stank as bad as she did. After jumping up on to the worktop, he sat with his back against the wall with the pillow between the two; he closed his one visible eye and rested his forehead against the glass and nodded off.

Chloe who had watched but had remained silent looked at him, puzzled on her thoughts regarding Peter. She hadn't really stopped to think of what she was getting in to when asked if she wanted to come along with him. But then again she was just a child, too young to contemplate the consequences of her actions and where they would lead her. All that had mattered back in her room was that after being locked away and forgotten, someone who had dropped in offered to take her away from her sad lonely existence.

It didn't matter where, just as long as she didn't remain in that room. And now she found herself alone with this strange boy who seemed capable of performing feats of amazing abilities such as leaping great heights and crawling along the ceiling. But more alarming and something that she even had a concept of; Peter had actually killed. And she pondered on whether it was safe remaining with him or if she could ever survive without him.

And that raised another concern she had, what would happen if he decided she was too much trouble to have tagging along and he then decided to abandon her. It troubled her as she had been left alone by her mother and discarded by her slob of an uncle. All this caused so much confusion in her young mind; the thought of being alone and abandoned again that she got up from her chair and walked up to Peter, reaching to him and thinking of climbing up and just huddling, so that when she woke later he would still be here.

But she imagined the mood he'd be in and decided to just sleep on the bed as he had suggested. It was filthy to look at up close with its visible stains of sweat, alcohol spills and other such things she dared not think of. Having to lie upon it filled her with disgust, yet it beat sleeping upon the hard floor.

Picking it up the remaining pillow and putting it aside she then pulled the blanket over the mattress; covering the whole thing before finally placing the pillow on top and in the middle. It still stunk of someone's own body odour and other such possible bodily fluids she was too young to even know about. But at least she wouldn't be lying in it.

Feeling the bed was now safe she then lay down on the blanket with her head resting on the pillow, removed her glasses and placed them within reach. Then closed her eyes and nodded off, shivering slightly but partly worrying herself to sleep with the hope that when she awoke he would still be here.

…

Peter suddenly awoke to a nauseous feeling in his gut "Oh shit!" he whined quietly, he felt a convulsion in his throat and leaned over the side to vomit on to the floor. It lasted no more than two seconds as he regurgitated a small mouthful that lay in a puddle below him. He wiped his mouth clean and looked at Chloe who was still sound asleep, and was relieved that she hadn't been awake to witness that.

He sat back against the pillow; adjusting his eye patch and continuing to stare at her while she shivered in the cold. She was one very unusual travelling companion, and probably a hindrance as well. He started to realise that up to now she hadn't exactly been any use at all to him or herself. In the short time they had met he had had to do everything for her; carry her, protect her, feed her. And so he started to wonder why he had bothered going back to her room and bringing her along.

Back with his old gang the rules were simple; 'If you can't pull your own weight or risk dragging somebody down with yourself then you're out. Lose the dead weight before they botch the job or get you killed'. And he'd seen a few gang members go down because of someone else's incompetence and unreliability. So in his case; unless he ditched Chloe now or sooner, he'd be stuck dragging her ass all over rapture, till he either ended up dead or back in the slam.

He made one long sigh and gazed back down in to the yard, staring at the locomotives and train carts, thinking how he wanted to be an Engineer and ride the railway lines. His one good eye swept along the railway tracks leading out of the yard, and then suddenly something at the end caught his sight. And as he looked harder at it he realised to his alarm it was man wearing a Station yard uniform, glaring rather angrily back at him.

"Oh shit!" quickly Peter leapt of the work top and ran over to Chloe as the man in the yard headed straight for the stairway. He shrugged her hastily to wake her "Chloe, Chloe wake up!" she stirred and moaned while her tired eyes only half opened "Come on get up," he urgently instructed as he handed her glasses. She merely whined and shook her head, wanting only to go back to sleep "Heh, heh cute, but no, we gotta go now. Somebody's coming and they look pissed!"

The rail yard worker meanwhile had climbed the steps and was now standing outside. He entered through the door, holding a bottle in one hand and a revolver in the other. Aside from some bruising, his face had no such deformities caused by Adam, indicating that he was either not a Splicer or had not spliced enough to exhibit its physical deterioration. Still, Splicer or not, the chaos that had torn Rapture society apart had driven those like him to confront violence with violence, and adopt a savage and territorial instinct in dealing with anyone who dared venture in to their turf or invade their home.

He was in his late thirties, unshaven, heavy built and violently drunk. He took one gulp of the liquor he held before slurring out loud "Whoever the fuck is in here, your dead!"

He looked around for any sign of the youth he had seen sitting at the window, the street rat who had invaded his home and had no doubt been rummaging through his stuff. Immediately the first thing he noticed that was out of place was the small camper stove and the pot on top of it, he approached and was furious to find that they had been used. Seeing also the two bowls and two spoons out made him realise there was more than just one intruder; two no doubt .He noticed next his bed had been slept upon, and after seeing the discarded soup tin and the empty soda bottles and potato chip bags he quickly inspected the draws and found they had all been cleaned out.

He breathing then became heavy and frantic at having been robbed of all his belongings and supplies. Remembering a story of one out of the ordinary family that had had their home broken in to by an adolescent delinquent who was also blond like the youth he had spotted; he calmly but still angrily spoke out "Unlike Goldilocks you ain't gonna just run home, so come on out now so I can kill you!"

He spun around looking for any sign of Peter and Chloe but could see no sign of them and wondered suddenly if they had snuck out while he was inspecting the cabinets; oddly enough he hadn't noticed that the sack Peter had filled was still lying where he had left it. And nor was he aware that if he just looked up above his head he would have seen Peter clinging to the ceiling with Chloe clinging to him.

The man made his way for the door believing that they may already be out in the yard with his stuff which he hoped on getting back. Peter as quietly as he could followed him from the ceiling, trying to keep out of his line of sight in case he walked far enough to easily spot them from one end of the room. The man approached the door but as he was about to walk out he spotted the small puddle of puke Peter had vomited.

Although it would have been just another thing to add to the list of reasons he would have murdering the two, he found himself unable to look away from it as something about it drew his attention. He couldn't understand why some street rat's own puke would interest him, rather disgust him at the lack of respect and regard the perpetrator who had committed this repulsive bodily act had shown in his home.

But as he suddenly approached the puddle and examined it; the whole time his distraction was giving Peter and Chloe the chance to sneak out through the door. His curiosity turned to sudden surprise and his eyes widened with shock and astonishment as not only was the puddle of puke which he oddly dunk his fingers in to all green and gooey, but as he raised them to the light he finally realised what this stuff really was "This is… Adam."

Outside Chloe quickly crept down the stairway with Peter following, he stopped suddenly and whispered with a whine "Oh heck, I left the sack with all the food back up there," he looked up at the open door and wondered if he should go back for it.

He looked back at Chloe whose eyes were wide open with urgency for the two get far away. But Peter being too stubborn instead said to her "Go hide somewhere; I'll be back in a minute."

He turned around to head back up the stairs when suddenly the station yard man came out with his revolver and a cane he carried also. He aimed at Peter and fired, who narrowly avoided by already leaping off the stairway and performing a side flip over its railing and dropping down to the floor below.

The man looked over the side for Peter and yelled "That girl whose with you, bring her up here now if you know what's good for you!" He suddenly spotted Chloe who was hiding behind one of the railway carts, realising he was coming for her she ran off down the railway line. Ignoring Peter he gave chase, believing that it was she who had produced the small amount of Adam he had found on his floor.

He ran after her, gaining as her little legs and bare feet could only carry her so far on the hard stone cold pavement. But following behind was Peter who leapt through the air and landed on the man's back "Hey are we playing tag? Always the girls we guys chase."

The man however furiously swung his body about trying to throw Peter off. He only held on tighter, wrapping his arms around the man's neck. However the station yard worker then slammed his back hard against the wall, making Peter wail in pain, he did so again "Hey let up already!" Peter pleaded. The man only repeated his action, causing more pain for Peter and driving him to take drastic action as he held up his gloved hand "Right that is it!"

Not too far down the line Chloe had stopped running and instead walked fast to ease the stress on her feet. But while she looked back for any sign of Peter or her pursuer she unknowingly approached a tram cart that had a shroud draped over its open windows. And as she looked forward she found herself confronted by two men who had stepped out of it in response to the commotion they had heard.

"Well what do we have here, a little lost girl," one of the men snidely remarked.

"What the hells a kid doing wondering around here?" the second man enquired, sounding more curious than concerned that a child was wandering about alone. Like the station yard worker they appeared not to be Splicers, but like him they were just as violent and hostile to anyone who strayed on to their turf.

In response the first responded "I think we got ourselves one of them Little Sisters who appears to have lost her Daddy."

"Are you sure, she doesn't look like one, I mean her eyes aren't even glowing," the second one noticed, sounding less vindictive than his friend.

"Course she is, that's all little girls are now; besides, maybe not all of them glow. But whatever, she's got Adam, and we need that shit," he then approached her "Come here sweaty, we ain't gonna hurt you."

Chloe however backed away in fear and turned to run back the way she came. Rather run after her the man reached in to the tram cart and with a grin suddenly threw a baseball he had brought out directly at Chloe's head. The blow she received on the left side of her head knocked her down on to the pavement floor. Her eyes teard up and she went in to a panic as her glasses had bounced off her face; she franticly reached her hand out looking for them but blacked out from concussion.

"What the hell did you do that for?" the second man protested at the harsh action his friend had taken.

He only grinned with the response "Come on you prat," they both stood over Chloe who lay unconscious, she was rolled over on to her back with the one who had K.O. her kneeling by her side.

"Now what?" the other asked.

"Now we just take the Adam and we'll be ready for anyone who comes a looking for trouble."

"How are we supposed to do that?"

"The same way you knick a kidney," from his pocket the man produced in his right hand a switchblade.

"Wait a minute; you're not seriously going to cut it out of her?" the not so vindictive man questioned with alarm.

"Course I'm going to, I ain't gonna just wait till it works its way out."

"You're a sick bastard."

"Oh put bandage on that bleeding heart, or you ain't gonna survive much longer unless you got the balls to do what you need to do. Besides…" he took hold of Chloe's face and turned it to stare closer at her scars "One more ain't gonna spoil what's already ruined," holding her down with his left hand, he then popped its switch and its blade shot out.

But high above among the scaffolding was Peter who swung through it very much like a monkey could. With the station yard worker's cane in his hand he threw it like a javelin at the man who was about to cut Chloe open and struck his hand, knocking the switchblade out of it.

"Oww Jesus!" the man yelled in pain while his accomplice franticly looked to the ceiling from where the cane had been thrown.

He caught a blurred vision of Peter moving above fast "Shit it's one of those Spider Splicers!" before he knew it Peter suddenly dropped down on him and slammed him hard in to the ground. The man was flat on his back while Peter leapt hard on to his gut. He repeated his actions again, causing the man to raise his head in a reactionary response. Peter with his foot slammed it hard against the pavement; laying him out cold.

With him dealt with he leapt again and spun around to confront the other who had now just picked back up the switchblade he had dropped. He turned to Peter, aggravated at how he had disarmed him and left his right hand bruised. His attempts to intimidate Peter by posing large and aggressive fell flat as Peter had had his fair share of bullies to contend with before.

And right now the only concern for Peter was that the guy was standing between him and Chloe. He looked at her still lying unconscious and was filled with anger for what this man had done and intended to do to her.

The man meanwhile Aimed the blade at Peter the issued a threat "Get lost kid or you're gonna be losing your one good eye."

Peter still not intimidated by the thug only responded "I'm not as half blind as you may think pal,"

"Yeah well if you don't piss off now I'll give you instead matching scars like this little train wreck here," he callously referred to Chloe."

The cold remark though only angered Peter more "If anyone's gonna end up a wreck with scars, it's gonna be you dickhead; and five I'll give you I will!"

"And how are you going to do that?" the man asked, not the slightest bit convinced that a half-naked ten year old who only wore a plain pair of filthy shorts with small pockets and nothing else; say for his eye patch and glove could threaten him "I don't see you holding a blade, and unless you're carrying two; which I doubt you are in those pants, you ain't gonna scare anyone,"

With just a cocky grin, Peter held up his right hand "Who needs blades when I've got…" and through a slit on each fingertip of his glove something long and black and razor sharp slid out which he identified as "Claws."

It was true as the man realised to his horror, that each of Peter's fingers and his thumb had extending from within the glove he wore a black claw; each two thirds of the fingers they protruded from and sharper than any razor. The man staggered back in shock "What kind of freak are you?"

"You think that's freaky, you should see what's under the eye patch," without giving him a second to ponder on that Peter then leapt straight passed the man's right leg and slashed beneath his shin. He squirmed and dropped his knife while he grabbed his bleeding leg with both hands. Seeing he was off balance and off guard Peter then next booted him in the back of his left knee, the man fell on all fours and then suddenly felt Peter's hands clenched together slamming in to the back of his head.

He hit the pavement and was out cold, but Peter was far from being done with him. Holding his head up by his long greasy hair, Peter brought his claws to his face to embed upon them the five scars he promised. Instead though he dropped his head face down on to the ground, thinking the five on his leg were enough and picked up the man's switchblade. He examined it, discovering it was a stiletto, and a fine crafted one it was.

He recalled how back with his gang the older boys had such knives in their possession, and while they used them for nothing more than feuding with rival gang members or to intimidate and harm other people. The knife in a way gave them a sense of pride and the notion that people feared and respected them; and it was why the younger members; practically Peter wished to obtain one for themselves and acquire this form of status.

And now he had, he had claimed it in a fight where he was the victor and with it the right to call himself a man. As he then pocketed it he suddenly remembered Chloe and quickly knelt by her side. She was still unconscious but still alive; Peter lifted her and after retrieving her glasses that lay not too far from where she had fell, quickly made his way back down the tracks to the signal box; passing along the way the station yard worker who lay on the rails face down in a pool of his own blood.

…

Slowly Chloe's eyes opened as she awoke and stared at the ceiling above, only to realise she was not wearing her glasses as everything was all blurry. As she sat up her head suddenly ached badly from the concussion of being struck on her head. Her hand touched her forehead and she felt a bandage wrapped around her head with a cold pack covering where she had been hit.

She then realised she was back in the signal box by the feel of the bed she lay on and the recognisable unpleasant smell of it. Looking in the direction of the windows she managed to identify Peter standing by the worktops. He turned around, not expecting her to be awake already and sounded rather alarmed by it.

Chloe meanwhile stared at his face and while she could just about recognise the burred black parts of him that were his glove and his eye patch, she became fixated on the patch that to her confusion seem to have a red glow coming in from it. Quickly Peter turned his back to her and reached for something, which further confused Chloe as it seemed he was putting his eye patch on again.

He approached her and handed her her glasses and another soda bottles from the stash "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Struggling a bit to keep her eyes open she rubbed her forehead to motion the migraine she was having.

"Yeah you took nasty hit to the head but your safe now," she looked away and slowly sipped the soda bottle while rubbing her forehead more. Peter realised though she was still a little shaken and figured he was going to have to do more than hand her a soft drink. So gently he placed his hand on her shoulder "Hey listen…" Chloe turned to him "You've probably realised now it's rough out there and not a smart thing to be on your own. So how about from here on you stick with me and you'll be okay."

She stared at him with her expressionless gaze; him unable to guess what she was thinking of his offer "Look I'll stick with you and you'll be fine," he sighed though as he realised he was going to have to put a bit of effort in to how serious he was being "I'll look after you and won't let anyone hurt you, and I won't leave you alone ever… Well what do you say?"

Chloe though looked as though she was about to burst in to tears, and she did. She lounged at Peter, wrapping her arms around him and crying out loud in his chest. He couldn't quite understand the need for the over emotional burst she had, but her reasons for it would be simple to someone who understood her state of mind.

The misery and pain of lose and loneliness, added with the lack of moral regard for her wellbeing and the harm it brought upon her. Being branded a reject and then locked away and forgotten, suffocating in her own filth and never to be heard even by herself. Only then for somebody to come along, offer to take her out of solitary and away from her captivity and misery. Someone to then tell her she'll never be harmed, that she'd never be alone.

All Peter could do was put his right arm around her and rub her head with his left "Alright, alright. Gees, you're gonna draw more attention here," Chloe then ceased crying and withdrew from him, looking him back in the face "So..?" all she did next was push up the ends of her lips to mimic a smile and chuckle, implying to Peter she would stick with him "Great, now let's go before anyone else shows."

…

Later Peter and Chloe left the signal box and were soon standing in the railway yard. Looking across the tracks to the Little Sister vent on the other side, Peter realised he would have to make two trips to cross; one to carry Chloe across, and the other for the sack of food he remembered to bring.

Once the sack was left in the carriage of the nearest locomotive he carried Chloe safely to the vent, and then went back for it once she was safely inside. He handed in up to her through the vent hole and made one final check that he was clear. He spotted however the two men who had cornered Chloe earlier watching him from around the corner and noticed how the one whose switchblade he had taken was leaning on the shoulder of his buddy due to the state he had left his leg in.

Peter flexed his right hand and each claw popped out, causing the one supporting the other to whisper in alarm "Christ you weren't kidding!" they got the hint and quickly walked away as Pete vanished in to the vent and left the yard with Chloe.


End file.
